Whether it is a Confucian minister or a Legalist minister, the most fundamental starting point and what he does is to maintain the dominance of Qingji.

In the matter of destroying the township school, why is Deng Xi completely different from Kong Qiu, and it is bound to become fire and water?

The destruction of the township school is only a matter on the surface.

There is only one deep meaning behind the scenes-

Control the minds of the people!

Or rather, unity of thought!

In the township schools, even the scholars who traveled to the private sector openly gathered to discuss politics and criticize Qingji's behavior, which is indeed not right.

It's okay in a short time, but in the long run, the trend of public opinion will become uncontrollable, Qingji will be scandalized, and various laws and regulations of Wu will also be smeared.

This is something that Qingji would never want to see.

However, Deng Xi advocated the destruction of township schools, strictly prohibiting the people from opening private schools, gathering people to discuss politics, and prohibiting the nomadic eunuchs so that they could be content with their own business.

Such an approach is too radical.

What is the difference between this and the "book burning and pit Confucianism" during the Qin Shi Huang period?

Of course, Qin Shi Huang may have been a warlock in the book burning pit.

However, in order to unify his thoughts, Qin Shi Huang did do the classic works of the hundreds of schools of thought, such as "poems" and "books", which were burned among the people, and stored them in the doctor's museum.

Scholars ask for learning, and they can be teachers!

"The king, the scholars taught by the township school are not 'orthodox' after all."

Deng Xi said slowly: "Especially the scholars of the Central Plains, they are deeply influenced by the ancient rites and culture, they do not learn from the present but learn from the past, and the ancient is harmful to the present, if it is not banned, the main power will be lowered, and the party will become the bottom, and the great cause of the unification of our Wu country may be destroyed." ”

"Furthermore, like the Book of Songs, there are poems praising the merits of the kings of the past dynasties, which makes the scholars cherish their homeland and do not think that they are Wu people, which may not be conducive to the people's hearts!"

"Please think twice!"

As soon as he heard this, Kong Qiu immediately blew his beard and glared, pointed at Deng Xi and said, "Deng Xi, how dare you confuse the public with evil words in front of the king?" ”

"I have a class in Kongqiu, I opened a private school in Lu in my early years, and I have a village school, and there are thousands of disciples and grandchildren under my disciples?"

"The township school is indeed not orthodox compared to the Jixia School Palace. However, in the whole world, ordinary scholars cannot be easily selected into the Jixia School Palace! ”

"If there were no thousands of private schools in the township school, how could I, Wu Guo, cultivate so many talents in these twenty or thirty years?"

"If the township school is destroyed and the people of the eunuchs are forbidden, I am afraid that the people's hearts will be in chaos, and my Dawu will no longer be full of talents!"

Deng Xi said surgingly: "What the right prime minister said, Da Miao." ”

"The township school is destroyed, and the countrymen take the officials as teachers, and my Wu country can open official schools in various places, such as the model of the Jixia School Palace, and recruit nobles and commoners to study."

"The talents cultivated in this way will not disobey the king's will, let alone openly gather to discuss politics and slander the king!"

"You!"

Kong Qiu was speechless for a while.

Because, with Wu's current national strength, it is indeed possible to carry out public education.

Do you want to turn on the wisdom of the people?

Many years ago, Qingji had thought about this matter.

At that time, it was because Wu wanted to vigorously develop its military strength and restore the people's livelihood, so it has been laissez-faire in the field of culture.

In general, if Wu wants to open up the wisdom of the people, there are pros and cons.

The advantage is that Wu is full of talents and prosperous culture.

The disadvantage is that once the scholars have gained knowledge, they may have bad intentions......

Dynasties in the feudal era, in general, were to control the minds of the people.

There is no lower cost than the use of foolish policies.

Historically, while burning books and pit Confucianism, Qin Shi Huang announced that the world should take officials as teachers.

It is not that the officials should teach the common people to read and write, but that in the future, when they have a dispute, and the dispute is not settled, when the public says that the public is reasonable, and the mother says that the mother is reasonable, they go to the parents to judge the reason, and what the official says is the standard answer.

You must know that in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were hundreds of schools of thought, Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi, and a large number of people, all of whom recruited disciples.

Their set is all the words of a family, which belongs to "private learning", which is similar to street discussions, so Qin Shi Huang's requirements are all subject to the government.

Of course, officials cannot arbitrarily act right and wrong, officials must act in accordance with national policies and regulations, small officials listen to big officials, big officials listen to the emperor, and finally the emperor's words are the only truth in the world.

To put it bluntly, taking officials as teachers means taking the emperor as teachers!

The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and it was in the same vein in terms of unifying ideas.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "deposed the hundred schools of thought and commended the Six Classics", that is, in the future, scholars came to study the six classics of poetry, calligraphy, rituals, music, Yi, and Spring and Autumn.

Because these six classics belong to the time-tested classics, it is recognized that the supremacy of imperial power and all people must be "obedient to the people".

The famous scholars of the Eastern Han Dynasty have hundreds or thousands of scholars, and even tens of thousands of disciples, and the students of private learning far exceed those of official learning.

Therefore, official learning and private learning have the same end!

"Prince, what do you think about this?"

Qingji set his eyes on Prince Heng, who was sitting on the side of His Majesty's platform and listening to the government.

When Qingji was not in Xianyang, Prince Heng, as the prince, was responsible for the regent of the prison country.

In this kind of major event, Qingji can't just ask Prince Heng's proposition, and he can't say it.

Prince Heng thought for a while, and then said: "Back to my father, my son thinks that the mouth of the people is more important than the defense of Sichuan." ”

"In the past, during the period of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, the great river flooded, and the father and son of Kun and Yu were ordered by the two emperors of Yao and Shun, and appointed Chongbo and Xia Bo to be responsible for water control."

"Kun has been trying to block the water, and nothing has been achieved for many years. Dayu to control the water to sparse, finally succeeded, so it is better to block than to sparse. ”

"Now, the scholars of the township school criticize the national politics, criticize the father and the king, and the sons and daughters believe that destroying the township school and banning the people of the eunuchs is not enough to curb such incidents, but will make the people's grievances boil and aggravate the bad impression of the people of Dawu."

"For this reason, my father should open up his views and set up official schools among the people, so as to oppose the township schools."

"Let the scholars learn the ethics of loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness, and be loyal to the monarch and patriotism!"

Hearing this, Kong Qiu, Zeng Dian, Yan Hui, Zilu and other Confucian-born ministers immediately knelt on the ground in an uproar and expressed their deep agreement.

"What the prince said is very true! The minister seconded the proposal! ”

"The ministers seconded it!"

“……”

The opening of the official school is a huge and risky investment for Wu Guo.

The investment is large, and the return is also high.

However, it may lay the foundation for the future collapse of the "Wu Empire".

Of course, maybe you can still cultivate the kind of foolish and loyal people who will defend the country and the monarch to the death.

"The stakes are high, and the widow should think about it again."

In the end, Qingji still didn't make a decision immediately.

According to Deng Xi's proposition, taking officials as teachers may lead to a shortage of talents in the Wu State in the future, but it can resolutely safeguard the fundamental interests of the Wu royal family and control the mind.

According to Confucius's proposition, opening up the way of speech and allowing the township schools to further "barbaric growth" is bound to be very detrimental to the unification of Wu's thinking, but it will make Wu's culture flourish and talents will be abundant.